Fish Finder Mounting

[fearthewopr]

Hi, first post here...

First, I'm pretty new to boating, so learning as much as I can, but an very handy and love learning new things like this.

I have a 1989 StarCraft 14' V Bottom that was a gift from my father in law. It's completely aluminum except for the transom. 9.5hp Johnson ('70s).

Found a bow mount trolling motor on Marketplace. The bow cap (aluminum) is too small to mount the TM, so I am adding some sealed ABX plywood to make room to mount it. I plan to rivit some angle Aluminum inside the gunnels to support the plywood at the correct height.

Underneath this new extended bow cap, I am planning to add a platform the same height as the front aluminum seat. It will just sit right on top of the seat and I'll probably use bolts to mount it to the seat.

This will be enough room to mount a seat with pedestal and act as a small casting deck with the foot controlled TM right there.

I am looking for advice on how and where to mount the Garmin echomap 44cv that was also included.

i have a transducer plate epoxied to the transom to mount it to.

All of that said, I have a few questions:

1. For the platform that will sit on the front seat -- as long as I cut it the correct size, can it just be bolted to the seat with the front of it resting against the bow? Or do I need to have some sort of support under the plywood where it hits the bow?

2. Cabling: How to I route the transducer cabling into the boat? Just get some surface mount cable management clips and run it right up and over the transom?

3. Where should I mount the actual fish finder? Should I just keep the cables long enough so that I can move the unit based if I am using the TM at the bow (and have a mount there), but also have a mount maybe on the seat closest to the stern for when I am not using the TM? Is that too complicated? I have not used a fish finder much on a small boat, so I am not sure of the most efficient place to mount it.

4. I'll probably just get one of the FF mounts from Amazon unless there are other recommendations here.

Thanks all! Looking forward to learning a lot more!

 

[LDUBS]

2. Cabling: How to I route the transducer cabling into the boat? Just get some surface mount cable management clips and run it right up and over the transom?

4. I'll probably just get one of the FF mounts from Amazon unless there are other recommendations here.

I'll toss out some thoughts on two of your questions.

2. Yes, just run it up and over the transom. Then along the gunnel or where the cable would be most protected. Don't put screws in the outside of the transom for cable holders or anything like that.

4. There are a lot of them out there to choose from. I would say the mount you end up with will depend on where you will eventually locate the FF. Not much help I'm afraid. There are a lot of folks with a similar set-up. I'm sure they will chime in.

Welcome to TinBoats. Sounds like you have a nice boat. Don't be shy about posting pic's.

 

[wmk0002]

I bought some 3M surface mount sip tie holders off Amazon recently. Put them on the transom on one boat to route the transducer wires. Can't speak to their quality though.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

Yes, you need to support the front of your casting platform. Many ways to do that. A couple of good pictures of your bow area will help us suggest something.

I don't know the garmin cabling and set-up, to say how easy or hard it will be to have two different stations and to move the unit back and forth. If having only one, I would choose near the rear seat with easy view when running the gas motor.

 

[fearthewopr]

Here's a picture of the bow area.

 

[fearthewopr]

Two more -- from above and from the front.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

I have a similar boat as this. Long time ago, I considered adding a front casting deck to it, but when I did a water test, it was too unstable. I recommend doing that, before going forward. Carefully, stand on that front seat while in the water. Also simulate getting around the planned pedistal seat. If you keep yourself perfectly in the centerline, might feel OK, but may go south very quickly when you are not. You might want to downscale to just a small, near botttom platform, that whould give you a flat standing surface.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

From a support sugestion, I'd try to go down the center of the bow and attach to that first rib. Then tie into that from both sides. Maybe some plywood cross-section support.

A low platform, could be free standing with a few plywood verticle pieces.

 

[thill]

I guess I'm different. When I do a front casting platform in a V-bottom boat, I often don't put any supports in the front section, but I cut the platform to fit very exactly with a 1/8" gap between the platform and the hull. Then I fill the space with PLPro 3X construction adhesive.

Usually, I use the front bunk to support the rear of the casting deck, and sometimes I use some angle aluminum on the inside, set with solid rivets, to support the sides if that front bunk is way back.

Not sure if this makes sense, but my front bunk is far from the bow cap.

End results look like these...

My Princecraft. This is while I was adding stuff to the previously empty shell. Notice the new rear platform, before carpet. The front platform was installed as described above, and it's been a number of years, maybe a decade, and it's still excellent, nice and tight, and no hull deformation or wear at the contact points:



This is one I'm currently building. There is pretty good structure under this one, but the front 2 feet of the front platform has nothing but a good, angled cut and some 3X adhesive, and I'm confident it will be just as good as the other boat. I believe you can see the air gap around the perimeter in this picture, as this was before the adhesive and carpet:



This being said, I would only recommende this if you have the proper tools (Jig saw, electric planer, angle grinder with a 40 grit flap disk) and decent carpentry skills. IF not, there are other, more user-friendly ways to accomplish the same thing.

Just thought I'd post this, in case it is helpful.